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| Nina Derwael of Belgium competes during the uneven bars apparatus final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. |
Nina Derwael made history for her country of Belgium at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Sunday. The 21-year-old kept everyone behind her on the uneven bars to secure a gold medal in the apparatus final. Anastasiia Iliankova of the Russian Olympic Committee held onto silver, and Sunisa Lee of the United States won bronze. It was the second medal in Olympic gymnastics for the European nation, and the first gold struck in the sport.
With Simone Biles withdrawing from another apparatus final, it was up to Lee to carry her country to a medal with China and the ROC coming in with two athletes each. Derwael would also be a threat to the all-around gold medalist, as she scored the highest in qualifications.
The 18-year-old took to the apparatus first and certainly felt the nerves after she hit the bar with her feet and had a pair of breaks in her routine. The judges gave her a 14.500 which gave her a slim chance at a medal. Derwael had a jam pack of combinations in her bar routine that almost came to disaster before the dismount. Despite avoiding the smallest of errors, the Belgian took over first place from Lee with a 15.200.
Iliankova started for the ROC and earned a 14.833 that shoved the American into third with Melnikova going next. The Russian lost her momentum and dropped to the pad feet first yet continued her routine. Melnikova’s score wouldn’t affect the leaders but there were still three gymnasts to compete.
China ran back to back with Yilin Fan going first and unfortunately flopped down on her backside after the landing. Her score of 13.900 was another that didn’t shake up scoring, but teammate Yufei Lu had a clean routine that came up a tenth short of Lee. Elizabeth Seitz of Germany was last up and looked for a chance to medal. She had a leaning dismount that affected her score and tied her with Lu. It clinched the first gold medal for Belgium in gymnastics in their history.
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